Tony Guoga and Andy Black have been two of the hottest players at the Party Poker Premier League. Tony won his first two matches before stumbling on Day 3 when he gained only one point, while Andy Black finished in last on Day 1 before winning his matches on Days 2 and 3. The two would meet for the first time at the Party Poker Premier League on Day 4, where the two would duel in a heads-up match before Tony Guoga emerged with the victory.
The second match of Day 4 saw Andy Black, Tony Guoga, Vicky Coren, Marcel Lüske, Juha Helppi, and Phil Hellmuth seated at the table. Both Helppi and Hellmuth were in dire need of points, as Helppi only earned two points over three days while Hellmuth had only earned five.
It is said that “the poker gods giveth and the poker gods taketh”, and that was certainly the case for Phil Hellmuth on Day 4. Phil held [As][5h] and flopped a full house when the [Ad][5d][5c] fell on the board. Hellmuth checked and Andy Black checked as well. The turn fell [9c] and Hellmuth bet out. Black made the call and the two saw the river of [6s]. Hellmuth check-raised Black, who then pushed all-in. Black revealed his [9s][9d] for the better full house and Hellmuth was eliminated in last place.
“The Flying Dutchman” finished as the fifth place finisher after he moved all-in with pocket sevens only to be dominated by Tony Guoga’s pocket queens. The board read [9c][6c]3s][10h][2s] and Marcel’s hand did not improve. Marcel Lüske earned only one point on Day 4.
Juha Helppi finished in fourth place on Day 4, gaining two more points to give him a grand total of four. Andy Black had raised preflop with [Qc][10c] and Helppi made the call with [Kd][7d]. Helppi made two pair on the flop of [Ac][Kc][7h] and bet out, only to be raised all-in by Black. Helppi made the call and saw that he needed to dodge clubs. The turn spelled doom for Helppi when it brought the [6c], giving Black his flush. Helppi would need to make a full house on the river to survive; however, the [Qh] fell on the river to make Helppi’s elimination official.
Vicky Coren was short-stacked and made her move with [10s][3c]. Tony Guoga made the call with [Kh][9c]. The board ran out [Kc][Js][Jd][Qh][8d] to eliminate Coren in third place. Tony Guoga and Andy Black would now fight in a heads-up battle with Black starting with a 3-to-1 chip lead.
Tony Guoga was undaunted by Black’s chip lead and began nibbling away at it. When the two players were nearly even in chips Guoga was able to devastate Black’s stack when he doubled up, leaving Black with less than a big blind. Black would throw his last chips into the pot on the next hand while holding [Qs][Js]. Tony had the advantage with [Ad][4s]. The flop came down [9h][9c][7h], no help for Black. The turn came [5c], no help for Black, and the river fell [2d], knocking Black out in second place.
The standings now look like this after four days of play:
Tony Guoga with 28 points
Andy Black with 23 points
Roland de Wolfe with 20 points
Eddy Scharf with 16 points
Annie Duke and Alex Kravchenko with 15 points
Vicky Coren with 11 points
Dave Ulliott with 9 points
Ian Frazer and Marcel Lüske with 7 points
Phil Hellmuth with 5 points
Juha Helppi with 4 points